Tokyo, 20 December, /AJMEDIA/
Japan’s FY 2023 budget likely to hit another record of 114 tril. yen
TOKYO – Japan’s state budget for fiscal 2023 will likely hit another record of around 114.3 trillion yen ($839 billion), with a roughly four-fold increase in spending on ammunition and long-range missiles set to lift defense outlays to their largest-ever level, sources familiar with the plan said Monday.
The government is expecting to allocate 828.3 billion yen for ammunition-related spending, a sharp increase from around 200 billion yen in recent years, as part of Japan’s drive to bolster its defense capabilities, the sources said.
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Japan ruling party lawmaker to resign over political funds scandal
TOKYO – A lawmaker from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has decided to resign due to a political funds scandal ahead of a spate of local assembly elections next spring, government sources said Monday.
The resignation of Kentaro Sonoura would deal a fresh blow to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the president of the LDP, after three Cabinet members, all of whom are also party lawmakers, were effectively sacked over various scandals in recent months.
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U.S. House panel on Capitol riot recommends charges against Trump
WASHINGTON – A House of Representatives panel investigating last year’s deadly Capitol riot on Monday called on the Justice Department to bring criminal charges against former President Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election.
The development wrapped up a year-and-a-half probe by the Democratic-led select committee into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. The panel’s request is not legally binding, but could add pressure on authorities to move forward with prosecution.
Tokyo unwitting host to Chinese “police station”: report
TOKYO – Japan’s Foreign Ministry on Monday shared with lawmakers a rights group’s report claiming that Tokyo is unwittingly hosting a so-called Chinese overseas police station, believed to monitor and threaten Chinese citizens abroad.
Tokyo was among a total of 102 locations in at least 53 countries around the world where such stations are located, according to the report published by a Spanish human rights watchdog and shared in a meeting with ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers.
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China’s official COVID death counts raise doubts amid virus surge
BEIJING – China’s official COVID-19 death counts have raised doubts amid an apparent surge of infections in major cities, with only two deaths reported since the government significantly eased its tight restrictions earlier this month despite long queues of vehicles forming at cremation sites.
After health authorities reported two deaths on Dec. 3, four days before the stringent “zero-COVID” policy was drastically eased Dec. 7, the daily COVID death count had remained at zero until Sunday saw two new deaths.
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U.N. to convene climate conference next September
NEW YORK – The United Nations will convene a climate change meeting in September next year for political and business leaders as well as civic groups to discuss how to step up measures to address the issue, the world body’s chief said Monday.
The Climate Ambition Summit will be held on the sidelines of the annual General Debate at the General Assembly in which leaders of many countries participate, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres told a press conference.
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17 groups in Philippines to form network to end statelessness by 2024
MANILA – Seventeen civic groups in the Philippines agreed Monday to form a network to eradicate statelessness of people in the country, including war-displaced Filipino-Japanese descendants, by 2024.
The Civil Society Network on Statelessness aims to provide a “robust framework” for cooperation and collective action between the organizations and the state in line with the two United Nations treaties, namely 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, according to their memorandum of understanding.
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Malaysia’s Anwar wins confidence vote in parliament
KUALA LUMPUR – Newly appointed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim won a vote of confidence at the lower house of parliament on Monday, confirming the legitimacy of his coalition government.
Anwar passed the test via voice vote in the House of Representatives, suggesting he had secured majority support. The opposition side chose to abstain.
